Teaching Dunham
by AmandaDoodle
Summary: A long flashback of Pete Dunham's life, how the GSE became a top firm again, and how love made him choose a different reputation. How did he end up with a wife and kid ? Read it in Teaching Dunham
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everyone. This is my attempt at a GSH story. I tried to make it original, but since there are many stories out there it's quite difficult. Hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless.

**The story takes place during the storytime of the film, however it doesn't use the same characters. Anyways, you'll figure it out as the chapters appear ;) **

**As for the first chapter, this is written in the I-form, it's from Pete's point of view, he's looking back at his life and the rest of the chapters will be in he/she style.**

It was two-thirty in the morning, when in a spacious apartment in Paddington, London the lights on the second floor were turned on.

"Hon? She's crying…again" I heard Faye mumble sleepily. This was the third time that our four months old baby girl had woken up during the night, and woken us up as well. "Yeah yeah.. I'll go, it's my turn" I said groggily, not quite awake yet either. It amazed me how a small child like her hadthe energy to pull an all-nighter.

I turned on my back, letting go of Faye who now sat up in bed, her eyes still closed "Come on, you go back to sleep. She wants her daddy anyway"

"If I wouldn't be so sleepy and if that wasn't a total lame joke, I'd laugh at that" she replied dryly and fell back down again, her head half covered by the big pillow.

[i]How did I do this? How was I able to get all of this ? with my past .. [/i] it was still a mystery to me, but one that I'd rather not solve. Things were perfect the way they were now, which wasn't the case not so long ago..

I put on a shirt and walked barefoot across the hallway to the nursery room.

"Hey little loudmouth, are you the little girl making all that big noise ? What's wrong then ey?" I leaned over her crib and put my hand on her tummy, rubbing it slightly "You make it very difficult for daddy to get some sleep, yknow that ? And without his good night rest daddy looks like crap in the morning and we don't want that, now do we?" Of course there was no reply, which only made mee long more for the day to come that she could actually talk back at me and tell me not to make such lame jokes..

The little girl stirred around a bit, slowly calming down now that her father was there.

"You can't be hungry, cause you ate like an hour ago.. what else then ?" I look around the room, hoping there are clues to tell me what I should do to make her go to sleep again. "I bet you won't help your old pops out here, ey?" A small giggle was the only answer she gave me, like I thought she would.

"Right.. I'll just.. sit here then" I hesitantly tell her. "If you need anything, just shout" I smirk and sit down on a chair, staring at the crib.

She was quite a sight, his baby girl. bold, wrinkly and tiny as hell. A proud feeling crept over me as I looked from my daughter to the room with the pictures and babystuff in it. I had accomplished something I never thought I'd accomplish.

[i]There'll come a time when all you care about is the reputation you'll have with your family[/i]

"Who coulda known that my brother had such wise advices" I mumble out loud, thinking to myself.

My brother had stepped out of the GSE about 13 or 14 years ago now. I thought it was the worse decision he ever made, but he seemed happy with it. It didn't occur to me that there might be a life outside a firm, a family besides the one the firm gave you.

When I was 14 I already wanted to join the GSE. My brother had created a monstrously good firm and I wanted to be just like him. Since I didn't have a father to look up to anymore, I tried to be the best Steve imitation I could be, which led to a couple of smacks to the head and him telling me off. A firm wasn't something for a 14 year old boy, I had to wait till I was at least 19 or 20, like him. But by then his GSE was no longer the glorious firm he lifted up from the ground. So I figured I could join what was left of the GSE, and like my brother make something big out of the small firm again. Three years after I had become a regular at the Abbey and a part of the GSE's core-lads it was finally starting to look like something. The group wasn't very big, but it always consisted out of the right blokes, my friends. We fought for our reputation and we made sure that everyone talking about the GSE would shudder. Dave, Ned, Swill, Keith, Bovver, Ike and me.. all of us saw the GSE rise from its ashes, after the fight in Manchester we were back on top. It was what we fucking lived for. I was the proud owner of England's top firm, things couldn't be better. I was on top of the world..

But little did I know that things were about to change, again, the day I met Faye.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

~3.5 years earlier~

At nine in the morning the alarm clock started beeping annoyingly loud. Pete tried to hit the button three times, but after having missed all three times he got up and turned it off properly. He reached for his head and a sigh escaped his lips, sounding as if he had a difficult time getting up. It wouldn't have been so difficult if he hadn't hung out in the Abbey until three in the morning followed by 'one last beer' (which became three) at Keith's place.

Pete stumbled out of bed and walked out of his bedroom, heading for the shower, in the meanwhile trying to figure out what went down the night before. He still had his keys, he only lost his money due to playing pool with a chick that was fucking awful. "stupid bird" he muttered, regretting that he gave her his phone number, in case he might want to use her one night.

Within half an hour Pete had managed to get himself ready to go to school. He had to teach History from 10 till 12 to two classes and once more in the afternoon, followed by an hour of P.E with the oldest boys of the school. Just a regular Monday.

"Pete, how great of you to show up on time"

"Wouldn't wanna give you a reason to win any money now would I?" he replied with a cocky grin to the headmaster, a middle-aged guy who was known for setting up bets with the other teachers to see whether or not Pete would make it on time. It was normal for him to be late on monday, the weekend was just too fucking crazy for such a day like monday to follow upon it.

The day proceeded pretty much as Pete had expected it, nothing too exciting happened. He knew that later that day a new English teacher would drop by to meet her colleagues and see how things worked around their school. He didn't expect much of it though, all his fellow teachers were older than he was, the last English teacher had to retire because of her age. Now he expected a similar old lady to take over for a few years, until she too was too old to teach.

Around two in the afternoon, when Pete was playing football with his pupils, a Hummer pulled up on the school car park. It caught his attention since loud music was blasting from inside, then it became quiet and the door opened. It was quite strange to see such a slender woman get out of such a gigantic car. "Kay lads, two more rounds around the field and then we're getting started!" he said, blowing on his whistle.

He diverted his eyes to the woman again, she was now heading towards the main entrance of the school. Was she the new English teacher ? Or just one of the moms that came to pick up her kid ? "Fuck me.." he mumbled, kind of hoping that she'd be his new colleague.

45 minutes later the door of the main entrance swung open and the 'mystery-woman' together with the headmaster of the school walked out, towards the field.

Pete observed the woman, for half a minute not paying attention to the game. She was slender, fairly tall (though he'd reckon she was smaller than him), had half long chestnut-coloured hair and a pretty face, for as far as he could see from a distance. When she looked up he squinted his eyes a bit, trying to get a better view of her, but it didn't help much.

At that moment the sound of shouts, directed at him, made Pete turn his attention back to the game, too little too late however. The football came flying directly at his head, and with a loud bang bounced off his head back to the ground. "Fuck Me!" Pete shouted out loud, holding his head with his hand.

The headmaster walked over the field towards Pete, together with Faye. "Always keep your eyes on the game, mate". "Thanks for reminding me, John" Pete muttered. Faye couldn't help herself and giggled.

"Ah, so you think this is funny ey? Me being hurt and all"

"No.. no I don't" Faye immediatly stopped giggling and looked at Pete, who now had a red spot on the side of his head. She started giggling again "Okay, yes I do think it's funny.. only a bit though".

"Aren't you gonna introduce me to the woman that sees pleasure in my pain?" Pete asked John, while winking at Faye.

"Ah, yes. Pete Dunham, this is Faye Benton, our new English teacher"

[i]dear mother of God, thank you thank you thank you[/i]

Pete grinned and observed Faye. Up close she was even more beautiful, he definitely wouldn't mind spending his lunchhours with her..

Faye reached out her hand and shook Pete's hand. It was warm and large and his handshake was firm. At the same time the look in his eyes was daring and playful. There was something about this guy that she was immediatly drawn to, but she didn't think much of it. He was going to be her new colleague so she had to think in a strictly professional way. His deep blue eyes were going to make that intention difficult though.

"Mr. Dunham here teaches History and P.E, he's been with us for a few years now. Excellent teacher, the boys love him"

Pete shrugged a little "What can I say" he answered with a nod and observed Faye, she was wearing the schooluniform, a skirt, blouse and jacket. He was amazed that she had a figure in those clothes. A good figure too..

"who wouldn't love a teacher that he or she can hit with a ball" Faye joked, replying to Pete's confident self satisfaction. "Auch, now yer plain hurting me, lady" he laughed, liking her sense of humor.

"Oh no, what a bad start of my new job. I guess I'll have to make it up to you somewhen then" she chuckled and looked at John "Is there anything else I should know before starting tomorrow?"

He looked around "You've met everyone, you saw the kids and all the classrooms, know where to get the disgusting coffee, and you've seen the sceduals we use...oh right, I'll give you a list of phonenumbers. From stand in teachers, and my cellphone and the school's number. Should you be unable to come you can call me."

"Woah, easy there John, swapping your private number like that" Pete smirked and blew his whistle "Alrigh' boys!! Time to get changed and go home!" he shouted and then turned his attention back to John and Faye.

"Don't worry, Pete. You'll get plenty of oppertunities to do the same" John joked back.

"I bet" he winked at Faye "It was nice meeting you, miss Benton" Pete said shaking her hand again, locking his gaze on hers, making her feel slightly warm inside "Can't wait to see you around in the canteen" he grabbed the football from the ground. "John" he nodded at his boss and then ran after the boys, towards the dressing room to collect all the football outfits.

"You want to be watching out for him" John said, shaking his head a little "He's a nice guy, but he's a bit of a womanizer" he told Faye and put a hand on her back, walking back towards the school to take care of the last few minor details.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Mate, what the fuck is wrong with you ? You just let Tilly walk out on you without doing a bloody thing" Bovver joined his friend who was standing at the bar.

Pete shrugged "She wanted me to come to 'er place, but I'm not in the mood" he answered, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. Truth was that he only had eyes for one girl at the moment, one that wasn't going to surrender to him just like that, but he was willing to work for it. Faye had made a lasting impression on him in the last two days that she had been at the school. He didn't want to believe it himself, but she was his next goal, and other girls that wanted to be by his side for a night just had to wait until he'd accomplished his goal and was ready to move on.

"Not in the mood? Fuck off, you're havin' a bubble! You coulda passed 'er on mate, no need to be so bloody selfish" Bovver turned around and ordered two pints, he handed one to Pete and then went back to the table where the rest of the boys were sitting.

It was wednesday evening and West-Ham had to play against Tottenham in an hour and a half. After the match the boys had set up a meeting with theYids, they had to prove themselves and build up the firms rep. In order to get wired enough they loaded themselves with beer.

That same night Faye was in her appartment in Notting Hill. She was on the phone with Graham, her best friend since high school. She used to date him for a couple of weeks, until he realised that he liked boys better than her. Luckily for him she forgave him in a jiff and they'd become the best of mates eversince.

"Tell me all about it, how are the kids ? Are they driving you nuts yet? Oh and what about your colleagues? Any good-looking teacher who wants to teach me something?" Graham laughed, quite amused by himself.

"If your taste has gone down to middle aged bold guys then.. yes" Faye chuckled "Oh.. there is one guy that's worth a look at. His name is Pete Dunham. He teaches history and P.E and... wooh you should see him, I swear he'll even make your knees go weak."

"What? What does he look like, age, girlfriend or not ? Cause honestly, hon, it's about time either one of us gets a new boyfriend, our conversations become worse by the day. Yesterday I wanted to tell you about this squirl that I'd seen in my garden, and then I thought to myself you're a gorgeous fucking 24 year old guy, you should tell more exciting stories than spotting a squirl"

"Yes, well, maybe you should stop calling me on a daily basis then, there's just nothing left to tell" she teased him. "Anyway, he's 24 years old, has got blonde hair and the blue-est eyes I've ever seen. You should see his smile, and the look in his eyes.. there's just something about him yknow, he's got this daring look in his eyes every time he looks at me" she sighed deeply "basically he's just handsome and wrong for me cause I heard he was quite the womanizer"

"So?" Graham asked, clearly not getting her point "You've dated men like that before, what is stopping you this time?" he pointed out the wrong boyfriend-choices of his friend.

"I've learned from my mistakes..I think" she answered with a smirk "No more bad boys for me"

The next day Faye's workday started at ten o'clock. She walked into room four and stood across from Pete. "Oh, hi. I think they have English next?" she asked,just to be sure.

"Indeed they do, just wanted to make sure you'd get here, besides, who knows what could happen if you leave these monkeys alone for a while"

The fifteen boys all laughed as Pete called them monkeys.

Faye dropped her books on the desk and looked at Pete, now spotting the blue/purple-ish area near his eye "Oh my god, what happened to you?" She looked closer, concern in her eyes.

"Ah that ?" Pete shrugged, it had happened before and he always used the same excuse. "My eight year old nephew likes to wrestle, he gets really competative"

A frown crossed Faye's face "You got beaten up by an eight year old?" She said raising her eyebrow, a smile playing at her lips.

"There she goes again, making a laughing stock out of me" He winked at her "You still owe me for the other day"

"You remember?"

"I always remember promises made by pretty ladies" He grinned cheekily and turned to look at the class as they all made an oeh-noise that kids usually make when they see two people in love, or what looks like love to them.

Faye blushed a little and chuckled "Right, if you get out of my classroom right now and stop saying things like that I'll let you buy me coffee during the lunch hour"

"Deal, now boys..don't be to hard on her, remember she's new and she deserves a fair chance" He winked at Faye and then left the classroom.

Two hours later Faye found herself across from Pete at one of the tables in a small diner-like thingummy across the school-property. "So, Pete Dunham..do you spend much time with your little nephew then?" Faye wondered, still amazed by the bruise in his face.

"Nah, not enough" he lied easily "I guess he's takin' it out on me whenever he can" he winked at her and took a sip from his coffee "Ah, much better than that canteensh!t" he concluded.

"Indeed" Faye agreed with a small smile.

"So whats got you to come to this fine little boysschool than, I mean.. fuck me, I bet with your rep. You coulda taught at university or something" He grinned, that same look of adoration and teasingness in his eyes.

".. honostly, now I know where the boys got their bad English grammar from" she chuckled and shook her head at his weird use of language. "If you must know, I'm here for research, to see how the English language is used at various schools in differents parts of London, and at the same time I'm teaching the best pupils ever. I mean, you probably know so yourself, kids are the best audience to teach. I adore them"

Pete had stared at her as she answered his question. He watched her every move, how her hand played with the coffeecup, how her head turned a little while she talked. She seemed confident about what she told him yet telling him something while he was silent and observing her seemed to make her feel less confident, the blush on her cheeks betrayed it.

"Yes, they are quite a hand full but I woudn't want to trade them for any other job"

Faye stirred on her chair a little and looked up at Pete. He seemed different from any other teacher she had ever known, and it wasn't just because he was a handsome teacher.

"How did you get that amazing car by the way?" he was curious to find out

"The Hummer? Oh, my parents gave it to me, for my birthday this year"

Pete whistled through his teeth "Woah"

"What?" she smirked, not understanding his reaction

"I'm guessing y'ra rich kid, ey?"

Faye rolled her eyes "Yah, I guess I am" she answered, ignoring the look on his face. She always knew her life was different from other kids when she was little, she could have whatever she wanted and she knew that was a privilige.

"Where do you live then?" he asked, guessing Notting Hill.

"Notting Hill"

Pete bursted out into laughing "Thought so"

"But, hey!" she protested "Don't laugh at me, it's not like my parents bought the appartment too, I bought it with my own earned money" She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms, looking unsatisfied with the way he now probably thought about her.

"Right, sure" he grinned "what issit your parents do then, that they buy you expensive cars for your birthday?"

"My mother is a human-rights lawyer, and my father owns two news papers, the Times and the Sun, the sun for fun he calls it" she smirked and saw Pete's expression turn darker "..I don't really like journo's" he muttered and looked away.

"Journo's?" she repeated him "What's wrong with them ? you better not insult my dad" she smirked

"..yer dad might be different" _Though I doubt it_ "But all journo's are fucking muck rakers, they'll write anything to fill the papers, including lies and gossipcrap" He stated clearly.

"Well..yeah, most do, I guess. The Sun is like that, you never heard me say it was a good newspaper" she giggled, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. "So, How did you end up becoming a teacher?" She asked carefully "I mean.. no offence but you don't seem like the regular teacher to me"

A playful grin circled his lips now "I don't ? Should I take that as a compliment?" he smirked confidently "Nah, I had to do something when I was done with secondary school, being a diploma-less lazy ass wasn't an option and I've always been interested in history and sport so yeah, easy choice really"

"you wanted to be a lazy ass?" Faye frowned but she was still grinning slightly. He was something else.

"Well no, at first I wanted to be a football player, then a lazy ass when I wasn't good enough to be professional"

"Football?? Ieuw.." Faye's face cringed as she made the noise of disgust. "What ? Football is fucking Great! Hold your tongue when you're near me, I don't handle football criticism well" he smirked.

"Oh come on.. a bunch of guys kicking a ball around, receiving millions for it" She exclaimed with a laugh, not too serious with her criticism even though she really didn't like football.

"such a shame, I was starting to like you, despite your unfortunate background" Pete laughed, teasing her.

"Well than, I'm sorry you feel that way" Faye giggled and ran a hand through her hair "Honestlty, and I'm not even talking about that whole bullocks of football-hooligans, kicking each others asses for nothing" she shook her head "Sorry but I'm not one of those football girls"

Pete's smile had ran off his face when she mentioned Hooligans. "ah right.. those" he mumbled and looked down. For some reason he felt eery inside, as if she had judged him already, though she did not know he was part of a firm. She had judged him unintionally and it felt weird.

_Come on mate, it's not like she needs to know everything about you in order to get into her pants. That's the only thing yer after, stick to the plan.. lie a little if you have to,_ he thought to himself.

Faye noticed that Pete looked more serious, but she thought nothing of it. They were colleagues and it wasn't her place to be 'proper pally' with him, so it was better if they didn't have so much fun. "we should head back, lunch hour is almost over" Faye broke the silence and stood up, grabbing her jacket and purse. She was about to lay some money on the table when Pete took her hand and gently pushed it back towards her "it's on me" he said. Faye smiled at him, her eyes lighting up, the confident cocky expression seemd to be back in Pete's eyes. "Why thank you, I'll keep in mind that I owe you" she winked, blushing slightly then buttoned up her jacket. When their hands had touched she could have sworn she felt some kind of vibe..

Pete followed Faye outside, taking a good look at her backside, _All's fair in love and war,_ he figured. And this was leaning closely towards love.. or wanting to make love to her at least. He would not mention anything about the boys or the firm to her, why should he ? In a month or two he'd get rid of her again, like he had done with so many of his 'girlfriends'.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Pete, Pete..Peeete!" Swill was practically yelling in Pete's ear. He tried to get his friend's attention who had just come back from the bar where he had been talking to Tracey.

"What, Swill, what ?" Pete growled, a little annoyed now, Swill was clearly drunk and he always tended to become a bit overly present. As for Pete, he wasn't even near a drunken state. He figured he had to be a bit more sober than the rest. They were fighting Chelsea's firm tonight, and he couldn't afford coming to school in the morning with a black eye, again.

"yer 'aving a bubble with us Pete, yer taking the piss out of us! First Tilly and then Tracey..mate you're lettin' them all slip away like that" he tried to snap his fingers but failed. "wha's the deal with you, Pete..bud... why you so celebate ey?" he grinned, thinking his way of expressing it was quite funny.

Pete snorted "I'm not fucking celebate, okay?" he rolled his eyes and found that the rest of the lads were all staring at him. Clearly his relationship with women was of interest to them. "look", he leaned forward, as if telling them about a conspiracy, "what 'appened is this, righ' We've got this new English teacher, and she is fucking gorgeous, yknow what I mean? Not Tracey or Tilly-shit, better" he assured them, looking dead-serious.

Bov's eyes lit up, glad to hear that his pall hadn't changed still. "Struggle and grunt then" He laughed, slapping Pete on the back "Tha's my boy" Bov grinned and lit a cigarette, turning his attention back to his beer.

"woah woah woah.. I thought you said she'd be an old ugly cunt!" Dave slurred, as equally drunk as Swill.

"I know, I know" Pete nodded excessively "I thought so, but man, trust me she's not"

Keith smirked and focussed on Pete's face as he told them about this English teacher. The twinkle in his eyes was more present than normally, and his grin was bigger than ever. "My mate Pete. Y'r in love!" Keith shouted, raising his glass

Pete bursted out in laughing "No bleeding way man, I just want 'er and then.." he made a shoving movement with his hand "On to the next"

Keith squinted his eyes "Naaah, I don' believe it!" He took a big gulp. Pete shrugged "Guess you'll have to see it for yourself once we get there" he shook his head and emptied his glass "Let's go boys!! Let's kick some Chelsea ass!" He grabbed his coat off the chair and left the Abbey together with his mates.

Pete led the group to the tube station. They were meeting Chelsea's firm at a deserted part near the end of West Ham. The boys were singing their Bubbles song as they headed into the station and towards the tube.

"….FORTUNE'S ALWAYS HIDIIIING, I LOOKED EVERYWHEEERE. I'M FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLES! PRETTY BUBBLES IN THE AIR!" The group stood on the platform, waiting for the train as they roared, cheered and clapped, "UNITED! UNITED!"

At that point Pete and Bovver turned quiet and looked at each other, after having seen familiar faces across from them, on the other platform. "Well well, look who couldn't wait to get their arses kicked" Pete shouted to the Chelsea firm, the Hammers laughed and started calling their opponent firm names

"What now Dunham, did we scare you by showing up unannounced?" The leader of the Chelsea firm grinned cockily.

"You couldn't, even if you tried. But since you're here already, who are we to keep you boys waitin', ey?"

Within a minute both firms ran down the stairs to meet each other in the hallway of the underground. Pete threw the first punch and the Hammers didn't have to wait for any more signals to start fighting as well. Both firms were head to head in a fist fight, kicking and punching each other. Bovver swung at a large guy of the Chelsea firm, who stumbled backwards as Bov's fist hit his face. Next Bovver grabbed the guy's head and hit it against the tile-wall a couple of times, until the guy was spitting out his teeth.

"Wha's that ?! You had enough had you?!" He shouted at the guy as he let him fall to the ground and kicked his stomach.

Even though the Chelsea firm was a good opponent for the Hammers, the Hammers still won the fight. He had no idea how he had pulled it off, but Pete was the only one of the guys whose face was still neatly intact. His upper body was a different story though. In the morning he'd probably look at a purple six-pack in the mirror.

"Dave, isn't it your turn to buy us a beer?" Pete grinned at his friend, knowing he'd probably protest.

"I ALWAYS buy the beers!" He answered but didn't mean it too seriously "Terry's probably closed anyway"

Pete laughed "No fucking way man, you're just trying to get out of it. Terry'll keep the Abbey open for us, he always wants t'know how the fight turned out".

The group headed back towards the pub. When they arrived the Abbey was almost empty, except for a few drunken men. It was one o'clock by now.

"AyeAye!" Pete greeted Terry and walked over to the bar, shaking his hand "How did it go fella's?" Terry asked, anxious to know who had won the fight. Pete took the pint that Terry had just set on the bar for him, "Mate, what'dye think? We kicked the shit outta them".

"Aah, now that's a good story to end the day with" Terry nodded, seeming satisfied. "This one's on the house. You seem to be bringing this firm back into business, Dunham. Just like yer ol' brother did. You two aren't that different".

Pete took a big gulp from his beer and stared at Terry in the meanwhile, his thoughts wandering off to his brother. It made him happy whenever he was compared to his brother. Steve had an important place in his life, but unfortunately their bond wasn't as strong as before. Whenever Pete needed money his brother would help him out all right, but Pete had noticed that Steve didn't seem to happy whenever he showed up at his house.

Perhaps it had to do with that girlfriend of his, Shannon. He hadn't taken the chance yet to get to know her, his occupation was elsewhere. Some day soon he'd make an effort to get to know her. After all, if she was the girl that could make his brother the happy guy he was today, it was probably worth getting to know her..

"Yeah, and I'm glad about that, Terry" Pete answered and downed his beer, put the empty glass on the counter and turned around to his friends. "Oi, I'm leavin'" he announced and gave Bov, Swill and Dave a short hug "See you guys tomorrow, ey" he greeted the rest.

Friday morning Faye started work at 9 O'clock. Just like Pete.. Pathetic as she thought it was she practically knew his whole schedule. At exactly ten to nine she stepped out of the crimson red bus.

"Now what's a girl like you doing on a bus" Faye heard the familiar voice near her, as the bus drove off. She turned around and saw Pete coming over to her, with a grin on his face from ear to ear. Her heart skipped a beat.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"..Believe it or not but my bum is not made out of gold, I have been on a bus before, you tease" Faye smirked and walked to the entrance of the school together with Pete.

"What me?" he raised his hands and gave her an innocent puppy face look. "Wouldn't dare to tease ya" he winked at her. "Where's your car?"

"At home, I tried to get it running this morning but for some reason it doesn't do anything" she shrugged a little "I'll take it to a garage when I have time, and in the meantime I'll go by bus"

Pete shook his head "No way, I insist on bringing you home this afternoon, in my car"

"You insist ey?"

"yeah, so don't even try to tell me that the bus is fine cause I happen to know that the busses of these days aren't what they used to be anymore" he grinned and headed to classroom two "See you during break time" he said and then disappeared as he shut the door behind him.

A few hours later both Pete and Faye were outside, standing on the playground, watching the children play during their lunch break. They were observing the kids, making sure they were alright and playing like angels.

"Listen eh, you might not want to bring your precious Hummer to a garage" Pete said, standing next to Faye, glancing at her from time to time.

"Why wouldn't I wanna do that?"

"Cause yours truly has some experience fixing cars, I could take a look at it. If you want me to that is.."

Faye's eyes widened as she looked up at him "You could do that ? You want to do that?"

"Eh yah, that's what I just said" he grinned, his blue eyes twinkling again at the prospect of spending more time with this girl, even if it was to fix her car…

"wokay, consider your offer accepted" she nodded. It wasn't like she couldn't afford the garage, and maybe it was even better to let professionals look at the car, but still.. professionals didn't look like Pete, neither were they as funny and flirty as he was. She didn't know how to spend more time with him but she knew she wanted to for sure. She was interested in him, despite his womanizer reputation. There was more to him then met the eye (even though that which the eye saw was already very promising), she needed to get to know him better. Much better...

"When do you think you ca-..." At the same moment Faye wanted to ask when Pete could come over to her house, they were interupted by the crying of a small boy and the noise of two older boys trying to fight each other. Pete turned his gaze away from Faye and followed her glance. "uhoh, trouble" He muttered and walked over to where the boys were fighting. Faye hurried after him and went over to the little crying boy. "What is wrong ? Why are you fighting?"

"He shoved my brother! Cause he's too little to play with us" One of the older boys said, still trying to kick the other, if it wasn't for Pete who kept the two far apart. "Oi well that is NO reason to fight" he said, glaring at the two of them

"But sir, his brother is a slowpoke! He's too little to play" the 'shover' argued

"SO, you don't have to shove him for it! He's only five!" the other replied

"right, you two are going to the naughty corners for a while until you're ready to apologize to each other" Pete muttered.

"..we have naughty corners?" Faye asked with a frown on her face and a slight grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. It sounded stupid when a guy like Pete said something like that.

"Eh, yeah we do, can you take care of that little guy there?" he asked, pointing at the young kid who was still crying and drooling all over Faye's blouse. "Yes, no problem".

As Pete walked back inside the school with the two boys, Faye turned her attention to the crying boy "there there, come on. No more crying, its over now. They won't shove you again. I promise"

"Promise?"

"Promise" she smirked, looking at the kid's teary chubby face that looked all cute and puffy.

Pete walked back onto the playground a small five minutes later. He had settled both boys each in a separate corner, where they had to stay for the rest of the lunch break. After wards he'd come back to make sure they'd appologize to each other.

He saw Faye hadn't left her spot, she was still trying to cheer the child up, a mission which she half accomplished. As he observed her, he noticed that he felt warm inside, though he wasn't blushing. The way she moved, soothed the child; It moved something inside of him, which he didn't really understand. "Come on you ol' cunt. Get over it" he ordered himself around and walked over to Faye. "There, all taken care of" he petted the tiny boy "You alrigh' again then mate?" he asked and got a small nod as an answer "good, go on back to your game then" he glanced at Faye and smirked. Half her shoulder was wet but still he thought she looked good. "yer a mess" he said, contrary to his thoughts about the way she looked, he made it sound as if she was a nightmare to look at.

"..gee, thank you, I didn't know that yet" she rolled her eyes and playfully slapped him against his shoulder "Keep it up and you're not going to enjoy my wonderful company on your way home"

"What makes you think I would enjoy your company? I'm simply being a gentleman"

"Oh come on, Pete- the Womanizer- Dunham being a gentleman ? Remember I do have ears and I use them a lot whenever one of our dear colleagues is telling a story about you" she looked at him, kept her gaze on him, and tried to find out if his expression changed at all. She imagined he'd be disappointed to find out she was on to him and his tricks. Oddly enough,though, nothing changed in his expression, or at least no disappointment was visable.

Pete looked back at her, with a piercing serious look, "Look, wha'ever those guys are sayin' about me is because they can't get anything good in their own lives, 'kay? They don't know what kinda guy I am, they see what they wanna see."

"Right.." Faye was taken aback by his seriousness, but she tried to lighten the situation up again, like she always did. She didn't handle genuine or grim situations well. "well I suppose you're an angel then, when it comes to dating women?"

Pete came closer to Faye, looking up and down at her face, a boyish twinkle in his eye "Didn't hear me say that either".

The lunchbreak bell rang loudly and Pete passed Faye, jogging back into the school with all the kids.

"Can I eh.. ?"

"Sure go ahead" Pete glanced from the road to the radio and back to the road again "You know how to use it?"

"No, but I'll figure it out" She pushed a few buttons and found the radio working. She switched through the musicchannels and turned the volume up when she heard a song of Muse.

" I Absolutely LOVE this band!" She said excitedly, grinning broadly.

"Aha"

"No, I mean it. I'm like their number one fan, and I even know them personally, thanks to my father, I got to interview them a couple of times for the Sun and I don't know, one thing led to another and all of a sudden I am on the guestlist whenever I go to one of their concerts and I text them and .. I'm rambling aren't I?" She suddenly realised she had done it again. The blabbing-thing whenever she was nervous, and this time it was about her favourite band, which must have sounded ridiculous.

"...only as much as me on football-day" he chuckled and shook his head "Don't be embarrassed, it's perfectly normal to be obsessed about something. You've got.. what? Coldplay or something ? And I happen to be like that with football"

"Coldplay? It's MUSE! Oh my, I am offended. How can you not know them?"

"Music isn't really my kinda thing"

"Ah, right.. only eyes for round rolling things" Faye poked his arm.

"and don't forget women" Pete added with a laugh, not being too serious about that comment.

He pulled up in front of Faye's house in Notting Hill not much later and turned the motor off, turning to look at Faye "Wow, so this is the appartment ey? Looks pretty nifty" he smirked

"It is, really" she nodded and shrugged a little "I guess you can see what it looks like on the inside when you come 'round to take a look at my car.."

"yes, speaking of which, when do you want me to come over?"

"oh right" Faye grabbed her agenda out of her handbag and opened it, flipping quickly through the pages. "Hm, got diner tomorrow with Graham, so that's not possible.."

"Graham ? ..your boyfriend?" he asked casually, though he feared the answer.

"What? Oh.. No..no, nono he's not" Faye blushed a little and shook her head "Just a friend, a very good friend. But not like.. he's gay, so yah, just a good friend" She wondered why all of a sudden she started stammering and why she told Pete that Graham wasn't into girls. Did she want Pete to know she was still available, for him perhaps?

"Oh, kay.. so no boyfriend then?" He felt his face turn colour as he asked the question, which made him feel quite stupid. It's not like boyfriends of his potentially girlfriends had ever been in his way, he'd got what he wanted no matter what. But right now it felt as if he asked his first girlfriend to the cinema or something.

"Nopes.. not at the moment, how about you ? Dunham the womanizer..." she grinned again.

"No, I'm quite single at the moment. I told you not to listen to our colleagues, they know nothin'." He assured her, flashing her a lopsided grin.

Faye laughed and turned her attention back to her agenda "What about the day after tomorrow? I'm free then..."

"Nah, can't do. Got a match to go to and hang out with me friends in the pub"

"Okidoki...and the day after that ?"

"No match, and my mates can wait til later in the evening for me to join them in the pub"

"wow, you'd actually postpone drinking beer with your friends and talking about football all night, to help me out. Goodness gracious" She laughed again, having fun teasing him. Luckily he had the same type of humour and he liked her teasing. Whenever she'd throw her head back to laugh, whenever she glanced at him with that playful look in her eyes, it made his heart pound faster, which was very unlikely for a guy like him. The only time that ever happened was in a situation that didn't even involve a girl. His first fist fight after a match made his heart race like crazy.

"Yes, miss cheecky" Pete answered and started the engine of the car again "I'll pick you up tomorrow..have a nice evening"

Within those two days of spending more time with Faye, it surprised Pete how much more he now knew about her. She turned out to be quite the chatterbox, once she was used to a situation and got rid of her shyness. Faye too was amazed at how calm and comfortable she felt when she was near Pete. This was a very good thing, because she had made up her mind. Pete was going to be her next boyfriend, womanizer or not, she'd get him, change him and keep him. Though, kissing him and finding out whether his body was as well-trained as he bragged about, was high on her list aswell, together with changing and keeping him. It turned out that he wasn't the stereotypical football fan she had labeled him to be, in the beginning (subconsciously). He was smart, kind, cute, funny, and a careless life-enjoyer really.

That afternoon, when the school was out, Pete drove Faye home and got out of the car himself, to follow her up to the door. "I borrowed some tools from my uncle, not sure whether they are of any help though"

"We'll see" Pete looked around the apartment. It was big and white, almost shiny with new furniture etc. "It looks even more expensive on the inside" he chuckled and avoided Faye's semi-angry look. "So, where did you put those tools?"

"they're on the kitchenfloor" She went over there as Pete followed her. "Here you go... do you want anything to drink ?" she asked, feeling a bit more awkward now that he was actually in her house..so closeby

"Beer?"

Faye giggled "I'll give you that after you've tried to fix my car, don't want your eyesight to go all fuzzy"

".. .. seriously, do you ever drink" Pete winked at her and took the tools and the keys to the car, then went outside again.

It took him about half an hour to figure out the problem. Pete came back into the house where Faye sat at her kitchentable, reading the newspaper. She looked up from the paper and smiled "Well ? Did you manage to fix it ?"

"...not quite" He shrugged a little "I figured out the problem, you have enough fuel, just not enough power, something wrong with the engine"

"Aha, something you can't fix?"

Pete shook his head "No, sorry, you need a real mechanic for that"

"blah.. well, thanks for looking at it at least... how about that beer?" She got up and went over to the fridge, taking out a beer.

One hour and three beers later Pete stood up from the kitchentable "I should go, my mates are waitin', they become real cunts if you don't show up within a reasonable time"

"....you always call your mates cunts?" Faye frowned a bit but grinned nonetheless, he was a guy of many swearwords, she knew by now; did not get used to it yet, but she knew.

"listen eh... I don't really know how to you thank you" Faye continued.

"You don't have to, it was me pleasure to 'elp out a damsel in distress" he joked.

"Funny guy, Pete" she winked at him "Let me make it up to you, I'll.. I can make diner for you" She offered, since she didn't know what else to do for him.

"I mean.. I keep owing you and if we continue like this I don't know how to repay you"

Pete grinned, seeing this as a good chance to do what he came for. "I know a way" he said, that teasing look in his eyes again. Without notice, he wrapped an arm around Faye's waist and drew her nearer. He leaned forward and was met half way by Faye's face. Her eyes were closed and he took a second to observe her beautiful face, then he locked his lips on hers and kissed her deeply, laying more passion in the kiss than he thought he had in him.

Faye smiled as she kissed Pete back willingly. His lips were softer than she had imagined, and as she had already thought, he was a very good kisser.

Not much later they broke the kiss. Faye looked up at Pete, he had a grin on his face and leaned back against the inside of the frontdoor. "A few more and your depts are payed, madame" He winked at her.

Faye blushed and leant against him "Maybe I should build up some more depts then".

"..I wouldn't complain about that". Pete ran a hand through Faye's hair and just observed her face, as he had done before. He was roughly disturbed however, by his cellphone.

Pete sighed "what a timing" he muttered and answered it, seeing Bov's number on the screen. "What issit Bov?"

"Oi, where'ye hangin' out Pete? We've started the game without ya, I could use a hand 'ere"

"Yeah yeah, I'm at Faye's, I'll be there in five minutes, count me in for the next game of pool then" he rolled his eyes towards Faye as he talked to Bov. Faye giggled out loud.

"So, it's like this then ey? That cunt is first priority?" Bov's voice was full of disapproval.

"Cool it, son" Pete muttered in a less friendly tone. "See you in a minute" he hang up and sighed "The boys're waitin' for me down at the pub.. better get going"

"Yes, you shouldn't keep them waiting" she answered, understanding he had to go. "I eh.. here" she awkwardly opened the door for Pete, behind him, then slid between the door and Pete to stand in front of him. "I guess I'll see you tomorrowmorning then.. you will be picking me up, right?"

"And force more I-owe-you's on you?... absolutely!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Part One

**A/N Hey everyone! Since Chapter 6 turned out to be twice as long as the other chapters, I decided to split it into two parts :) The second part will be added in one or two days!! Enjoy the story and don't forget to comment if you feel like it ;)**

Bovver opened the lit of his telephone angrily, and dialed Pete's number. As the phone rang, he hit the sidewall of the bathroom at the Abbey. Clearly he was upset about something..

"AyeAye!" Pete answered the phone with a cheerful greeting "My dear friend Bov, 'ow can I 'elp ya?"

Bovver snorted "You forgot the fucking fight didn't you ?"

"Nah mate, I'll be there, gimme 'alf an hour and we'll do some serious damage and a drinking session afterwards" He grinned broadly. It was silent on the other line for a few seconds, then there was a big sigh from Bov, "Fine, just get 'ere before the boys get impatient". He hung up and looked at himself in the mirror. It wasn't that the boys would get impatient, it was more that he'd get impatient. He had been Pete's right hand for a while now, Pete was becoming the new leader of the firm, and it suited him right. The firm had to be led by a strong self confident guy with a good rep. Bov had a good rep, like Pete, but the idea of leading a group as big as the firm's, that gave him sweaty handpalms.

Pete put his phone back into his pocket and went back to Faye's livingroom. For the past two weeks now the amount of time they had been spending together had increased. For another week he picked her up and drove her back home, usually she had stuff to do after school, and the same went for him as well, so all they did was make out in his car. It sounded odd in his head, since only kids without their own home and parents waiting for them inside the house would make out in the car, but it also suited him. He thought it was rather exciting to build up some tension between them, cause after all, he was still aiming to sleep with her. Or so he told himself.

He had trouble keeping his eye on the goal, every time he saw her, a voice in his head told him that she wanted to be his. A girl like that could be his. He didn't have to dump her right after he had gotten to third base, for once he could try to really be with someone; someone as great as her. Then the other voice took over again, telling him that women were nothing but trouble, especially women like Faye, women who knew what they wanted out of life and out of a relationship..

It was as if the devil and an angel were argueing inside his head while in the meantime his heart continued to seek her attention, to request for her smile and to hold her in his arms until they'd end up kissing, yet again.

Last week they had manage to spend one night together, or a few hours of the night at least. He had been to her house on a tuesday evening, when she hadn't been present at school due to the flue. Via textmessages they had texted to and fro and after some persistent textmessages from his side, Faye gave in to his request to visit her. She had already warned him that she looked far from pretty, or sexy (as he'd like to call her in his messages), but he wasn't disappointed when he found her in her bed, half covered by blankets and medicine. An overwhelming feeling of tenderness came upon him at first, but he shook it off and acted as his teasing, somewhat obnoxious self again. They had spend an hour or two lying on her bed, watching East Enders, the Weakest Link and Little Britain.

Now he found himself at her house again, this time to watch a film, of which they had hardly seen five minutes all together..

Faye sat up on the couch and straightened her hair and blouse a little, as Pete walked back in. "..please tell me you don't have to go.."

"yah..sorry" he mumbled, falling back onto the couch next to her. "Bov says the boys're waitin' for me down at the pub"

Faye smirked and shook her head. It was difficult having a boyfriend that was so occupied with meeting his friends at a pub every night, they could hardly spend any time together. It led to snogging here and there and finding a few hours once a week to spend with each other, but that was it. She wasn't even sure if she could call him her boyfriend yet. Normally she'd spend more regular time with the guys she was dating.

She hoped that tonight would be different. As they were lying on her couch, watching a film and making out, she contemplated the idea of sleeping with Pete. She was sure she wanted to, and by the touch of his hands exploring her body as they were kissing, she felt he wanted to take that step as well.

Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen though.. not tonight

"Well if the boys are waiting you've got to go" she murmered and got up from the couch.

"I said I'd be there in half an hour.." Pete grinned mischievously and drew Faye nearer to him. Gently he started kissing her neck while cuddling her. "..hm.." she closed her eyes and a small moan escaped her lips as he lowered his kisses to her colarbone.

Pete figured that within half an hour he could have her naked and in her bed, but his instincts told him she was not the kind of woman who'd agree to a quick hop in the sack, like so many others he had been with. "Just go already, this is just plain teasing Mr. Dunham" she whispered in his ear and placed a trail of kisses starting at his ear, over his cheek and to his mouth. Pete nodded as he replied to her kiss, deeply. He wasn't so sure whether he'd mind not having a quicky with her. Somehow it felt better to wait than to rush it and then get rid of her, like he had told himself to do. He didn't want it to end just yet, so it didn't matter right now that he had to go. He'd postpone the pleasure, and also the burden of dumping her and focussing on the firm again.

"Fine" he groaned after they broke the kiss.

"I'll text you okay?" Faye walked him to the door

"Yeah,sure" he put his long West Ham coat on and walked out. As he walked to the car to open his door, he looked up at Faye, who was still in the doorway. He winked at her and then got into the car and drove off.

"GET SOME DRINKS IN, GEEET SOME DRINKS IN!" Pete walked into the Abbey, shouting the song as he went over to the boys' table.

Keith rose up and gave Pete a friendly hug, Pete slapped his hand against Bov's back and shook hands with Ned, Ike, and Swill.

"Oi, where's Dave then?"

"Said he had to fly to the Netherlands or something, won't be back until tomorrow morning. Fucking cunt is probably shagging a few of those stewardesses in Holland" Swill took a drag from his cigarette and shook his head, he was jealous of Dave.

"Aye mate, you picked the wrong job didn't ya"

"Bloody damn yes I did" Swill smirked, now grabbing his beer from the table.

"So, tell us. How is our fearish leader?" Ike asked Pete while sliding a beer towards him.

"be'e than ever' he answered with a broad grin.

"Fearish leader? You mean absent leader" Bovver commented while glaring around the table.

"Did you bang 'er yet or what?" Ike laughed, ignoring Bov's comment.

"Nah, not yet." Pete's eyes darted to Bov "Thanks to this guy 'ere I'm gonna have to wait a while longer. He likes to interrupt me at shitty moments" The last part of his answer didn't sound very amused.

"Ahh, poor Petey, not getting laid just yet" Ned grinned "Is she even into you or what?" he joked.

"Of course! Mate.. she keeps jumpin' on me everytime we're alone" he told his friends, making the truth a bit more glorious than it was.

"Riiight.. we'll see about that" Swill winked at Pete and turned to the other guys, who had started talking about football.

Pete got up "gotta piss like a racehorse" he muttered and left the table. Bov waited a few seconds and then followed Pete to the bathroom. He opened the door and saw his friend's back in the mirror. Pete looked up "Oi Bov, what was that phonecall all about ? You're starting to get on my nerves with all that kindergarten shit. Calling me all the time to see where I'm at and when I'm heading to the pub.." He sounded agitated.

"...don't give me crap like that, brov" Bovver muttered, leaning against one of the sinks. "You know you can't afford it to show up less and less, all cause of some bird.. The firm is finally starting to get back to its glorious status, and you're dumpin' it like yesterday's newspaper".

Pete zipped his pants and turned around, glaring at Bov "I am not handling the firm as if it was yesterday's paper. Don't f*cking go there. This firm means everything to me, those boys mean everything to me. Nothing'll change that" He walked closer to Bov "If you have a problem being my right hand man then you better tell me, cause I aint givin' Faye up just yet. So get used to it. The GSE leader is datin' and he's gonna combine it perfectly with his firm, got it?" He walked away, not waiting for Bov's answer. His friend was pissing him off, which normally made him want to cool down, but right now he was in the mood to fight, a good time to head to the meeting with the Gooners…

Faye leaned on the low fence that surrounded the school's football field. It was the second day after Pete had left her apartment that night, leaving her behind with many questions. They were good together, yet nothing big had happened between them yet. The interruptions from his side seemed very planned, somehow, which was the weird part. Yesterday she had hardly seen him, cept for twice in the hallway. He looked rather miserable and hung-over, so she wasn't surprised when he had stood outside her classroom, to tell her he was heading home earlier than planned. The drinking-session was probably still lingering, only now with a head-ache.

Right now she was watching Pete as he was refereeing a game of football. He seemed to be in better shape again, and not just his butt, which received a large amount of her attention..

Pete blew the whistle and ran across the field towards one of the ten year old boys that was lying on the ground. He saw how one of boys from the other team had tackled him to the floor. "Oi! What's that all about? no foul play!" Pete said strictly and kneeled down beside the boy. " how're ye doin' mate?"

The boy winced and held his knee "My knee hurts, sir" he whined. Pete gently pushed the boys hand away from his knee and inspected the big red mark "Okay, that'll be needing some ice". Pete looked around, not sure how to solve the problem of keeping an eye on the rest of the boys while he was inside, getting ice. He noticed Faye near the sidelines and got up, "I'll be right back", he promised the boy and walked over to Faye. "You're going to be my life-saver", he said to her with a small familiar grin.


	7. Chapter 6 part 2

Chapter 6 Part 2

"I am?" Faye raised an eyebrow

"Yes.. can you please please please take over my P.E class for just a few minutes while I take Bobby inside and fix his knee up with some ice?" He gave her a puppy dog glance and came closer, putting his hand on her arm and already slightly dragging her onto the field.

"W-what ? No! I can't do that, I don't teach P.E, I wouldn't know what to do!" Faye tried to pull back but Pete was stronger than she was. There was no way she could get out of this one.

"Thanks a lot, luv"

Pete ran to Bobby and helped him up, he escorted him off the field and left Faye behind with 13 ten year old boys. They were all staring at her and sniggering.

"Oh boy.." Faye stared back at the kids "Hey" she spoke up "So eh...Pete had to take care of your friend and I'll be keeping you busy for the next five minutes or so.." She hoped that it wouldn't take him five minutes but less.

"I can't help you out with your game of football" she said, sounding very unsure of herself as she spoke to the boys. While she was standing there uncomfortably, she quickly tried to think of another game to play.

_Come on Faye, think quick and hard. What games did you play again in P.E? Besides cricket.._

"Let's do another game okay?". The boys now came closer, ready to hear what the other game would be.

"It's called 'The right thing is', I say what the right thing is and you all follow me, okay??" Faye's handpalms were all sweaty, now that she was thrown into this new unusual situation. "The right thing is....jump up and down!" She started to jump up and down and was overwhelmed with relief when her plan worked out and the boys did as she did. "The right thing is.... twirling around!"

Exactly five minutes later Pete came rushing back outside, he jogged towards the field but started to slow down as he noticed Faye and all the boys standing on one leg hopping up and down. The same feeling that had crept up on him earlier was there again, tenderness at the idea that the woman on the field, who did her best to keep the kids occupied, could be his girfriend. She was kind, beautiful, and obviously not as stuck up as he had presumed she would be, with her back ground. She was fun and outgoing, and he needed her to be his...not just for one night...

"Oookay" Pete interrupted the game "Let's continue with the game shall we?"

Faye looked up at Pete with a smirk on her face "You owe me big time"

"I know, how 'bout drinks at my place next friday after all the parent-teacher meetings? I might even try to make you one of those fancy cocktails" He winked at her.

Faye felt her cheecks turn slightly red but she ignored it and nodded "Sounds wonderful"

"great then that's settled" He smiled broadly as his eyes lit up.

"Right..well eh.. I gotta go back inside and.. well, you have your game to get back to" Faye wandered around him a bit longer than necessary, when she passed him to head back to the main entrance, Pete took a step in her direction. "Bye gorgeous" he said, not too loud (afterall they were still in front of the boys). Faye smiled, almost as broadly and happily as Pete. "Bye..handsome" she giggled and left the field. She was sure that inside her stomach there were a million butterflies flying around.

That friday Faye, Pete, the headmaster and two other colleagues were sitting in the canteen, drinking coffee. "...and you ?" John glanced at Faye. "Same as Pete, six more parents and then I'm done" She answered.

"Right.. right.. hm, well.. I need to get home to me wife and kids, cause she's been nagging that I came home too late all week, and I haven't even been in the pub for godssakes!" The headmaster got up from his chair and finished his coffee. "I'll put the automatic lock on, if you guys leave here and the door closes it'll be locked from the inside. I'll head home then"

Pete grinned "Good luck with your wife"

"Thanks, I'm gonna need it. Have a nice weekend"

Faye followed the headmaster with her eyes until he was out of sight. "I better go back to the classroom before those parents walk in." She got up as well.

Six parents later Faye headed out into the hallway, she just caught Pete as he walked out of his room as well, "Hey handsome, ready to get out of here?"

"Very much" he replied and placed a kiss on Faye's lips "Time for cocktails dontcha think?"

"absolutely!" Faye giggled and opened the main door, "I'll just follow you in my car" she said as she kept the door open for Pete. As they were walking towards the cars Faye suddenly stopped. "Wait.." she mumbled and searched her other coatpocket, then she took her bag and frantically started searching through it. "I can't find my carkeys... or the keys to my house" she looked panicked and searched her coat and bag again.

"..What?" Pete smirked a little "Don't tell me you left them inside.."

Faye turned around and looked at the school, "oh god..I think I might have... on my desk.." she let out a deep sigh and held her head in her hands "Damnit, and my parents have my sparekey and that's at least two hours from here".

Pete shrugged "Come on, let's go to my place first, you can crash there if need be".

Faye looked up at him and blushed again. "Really? I mean.. I could call one of my friends, they don't mind me staying over"

Pete raised an eyebrow, "I don't mind either, not at all.. Faye, you're more than welcome to stay at my place. You should know by now"

"Okay..fine, thanks" she looked at her hummer and sighed "Hate to leave my baby here in the night"

"It'll be fine" Pete smirked a little at her concern for the car.

Pete unlocked the doors of the dark red Volkswagen and got behind the wheel.

"I can't believe I'm going to see where you live"

Pete laughed "Special moment ey? I gotta warn you though, it's a pigsty at the moment.. or.. always" he grinned and glanced aside at Faye who was walking beside him up the stairs.

"Okay, behold.. my shack" Pete winked at Faye and opened the door. He walked in before her and looked around, really regretting that it was such a big mess. But hey, she'd see the worst side of him,or at least..one of the worst sides, and if she would stick around after having seen that, she would be quite an okay girl..

Faye looked around the livingroom and was surprised that he wasn't joking about the mess. A footballtable in the livingroom, a messy desk-ish kinda thing behind the tv, clothes and beercans everywhere... "Don't let John see this" she grinned.

"Oh don't worry, I don't intend for him to see this. Besides.. just cause I'm not that tidy doesn't mean I'm not an excellent teacher"

Faye giggled "I'm glad you're so overly confident with yourself".

".. are you like the number one fan of West Ham or something?" she pointed at the large West Ham United poster like thing on the wall.

"Something like that..yeah" Pete smirked, if she only knew. If he could only tell her how big a fan he was.

"Can I eh.. sit down somewhere or something? I mean.. if you can tell me where the couch is underneath all that mess" she winked at him

"well well, aren't we the joker" Pete approached her "I'm not sure you deserve to sit on my couch after making a hateful remark about my lovely home" He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, catching her lip in a small kiss.

"...oh forget it, I don't need a couch, I can simply stand in your arms all night" Faye bit her bottomlip and stared into Pete's blue glinstering eyes. It felt as if the butterflies in her stomach had awoke, now that she was in such a profound position near Pete.

"Good, cause I wasn't looking forward to a night of cleaning and sitting on the couch afterwards.." Pete brought his face closer to Faye's and stroked her cheek gently before he kissed her again, much longer this time and with more passion.

Pete noticed that kissing her made him feel more eager inside. She was in his livingroom, she was going to spend the night at his place, she was in his arms.. and he wanted her right then and there. He roamed his hands over her back, moving them down towards her behind, he deepened the kiss as he felt that Faye got into the mood as well.

Indeed, Faye couldn't keep her hands off Pete either and soon she found herself directing her hands across his chest. She felt how his abs stiffened under her touch, which made her want to see what she was caressing even more. Her hand slid into the back of his pants as she tried to pull his blouse out of it. When it wasn't tucked into his pants anymore she slid her hand up his back, stroking the warm skin of his back. Pete didn't stay back and followed her lead, he started unbuttoning her blouse, not even bothering to take her jacket off. Her touch was soft and gentle but her intentions were less gentle. He felt her hand move down his chest and it tried to find its way down into his pants. He groaned and stopped kissing her for a splitsecond, only to continue to kiss her neck, "Damnit, Faye", he muttered under his breath, not able to say much more. He started moving towards the ground, taking Faye with him, he pushed some junk aside and layed her down on her back on his floor. He continued to kiss her and now unbuttoned her skirt as well.

Faye wasn't doing much at that moment though, she tried to stay in the mood but the thought of having sex with Pete on his dirty floor, the idea of not doing their first time together in a bit less easysleazy way subcontiously bothered her.

"Wait.. wait" Faye spoke up all of a sudden, roughly pushing Pete away from her neck. She held one hand against his chest and her other hand reached underneath her back. She took an empty and smashed beercan from underneath her and threw it aside. "Not like this... Pete" she said all of a sudden, not sounding too happy.

"What..? what??" Pete stared into her eyes, a blank look on his face cause his mind and his bodypart were still focussed on having sex. Faye's face turned red instantly, she wasn't sure whether she could tell him, or whether this would ruin things between them, but she couldn't give herself to him like this. "I'm sorry.. please.." she sat up a little, indicating for him to get off her. "What ? What did I do? Did I hurt you?" Pete's look turned into worry now.

"No.. no! You didn't" Faye covered her face "I'm sorry, I can't do this. I can't be one of your many girls you 'do' on your floor and get rid of later, I need this to be fine..no.. I need this to be nice and .. not on your floor between empty beer cans and other junk.. I need this to be right, you and me to be right. I'm sorry" she said, sounding quite desperate and on the verge of crying now.

"What the fuck" Pete pursed his lips "I... but.. I thought you wanted this too"

"I want this.. I do.. I want you, but this is just..i'm not like this, not anymore, I need our first time to be normal. Just.. normal" She couldn't tell him now that she had been through all the non-normal things with her two ex-boyfriends, and that she could predict how that would end up. She had been crazy in the past, too crazy, and the consequences weren't fun. So the best thing to do was to wait, and hopefully he didn't mind the waiting for now, if he really liked her. If not, than the headmaster was right about Pete all along..

"Right.." Pete's look was blank again, he did not understand her one bit right now.

"I can go and sleep with a friend" Faye whispered, as she buttoned up her blouse.

"What? No.. no.." He sighed deeply, "the bedroom's over there, you take it. I'll just take the couch", his last words sounded quite sarcastic.

Faye gulped and walked over to the bedroom door, "I'm sorry, Pete...I didn't mean to..." she didn't finish her sentence because she was at a loss for words. quietly she disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door. She leaned against it and started crying, hoping silently that Pete would not dump her the next day for her actions.

Pete fell down onto the couch and rubbed a hand over his hair. "cunt" he cursed, sunken into an angry mood.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning Pete woke up around ten o'clock, which was fairly early for him. He stretched on the couch and yawned, turning on his back. He stared at the ceiling and suddenly remembered why he felt so shitty. The night before had been a complete disaster. Faye had rejected him at the very moment they were about to sleep together. If that wasn't bad enough, she didn't even give him a reason why.

He glanced at the door and sighed. She was still in there. How should he act now ? Should he get rid of her ? See her as a lost cause and forget sleeping and being with her all together? He had no idea, since he'd never been in a situation like this before. In a situation where he cared for the girl more than to think of the idea of dumping her straight away.

Faye had been awake for over an hour, she felt too miserable to fall asleep again. During that whole hour she tried to find out if Pete was awake yet. Every fifteen minutes she'd quietly open the door to see if he was awake yet, but he wasn't. Now she could hear him yawn and turn on the sofa. An eery feeling crept up in her heart as she stepped out of his bed for the fifth time or so. She slowly opened the door of the bedroom and saw Pete staring at her, since he had focussed on his bedroom door.

"Hey.." Faye had trouble to be audible since her throat felt dry as hell.

"Hi.." Pete sat up and ran a hand over his head.

"How are you?" Faye asked, figuring it was up to her to keep the conversation going and to see how things between them were at this point.

"Oh, just swell" he muttered, not giving in to his pity-feelings for her just yet. "you?"

She shrugged a little and walked over to him, bare feet, searching her way through papers lying on the floor. "I..i'm okay I guess" she mumbled "Shall I make you breakfast or something?"

He looked at her, she was wearing some kind of undershirt and one of his shorts. He had trouble remembering that he was mad at her, or at least not happy with her at the moment. "sure" he muttered, not minding her taking care of him. She had to make up for last night anyway.

Faye walked over to the kitchen area of the flat and searched the cupboards. It took her a few minutes to eventually find some eggs and bacon in the fridge, and a frying pan in one of the cupboards. She stared at the eggs heating up in the pan and took deep long breaths, she felt awkward. Was he going to dump her right after she had made his breakfast? Even though she didn't think he was that kind of guy, she wasn't sure cause she had only known him for a week or three/four.

Pete observed her and shook his head. He wanted so badly to be the tough guy, to stay angry at her for blowing him off just like that. It would fit in with Pete-the-firm-leader, but it sure didn't fit in with this new side he started to get to know of him. The side that really liked Faye and felt sorry for her. The way she pushed him away last night didn't even seem as if she didn't want him, there was something going on that she didn't tell him or that he hadn't figured out, but it didn't seem like she did not want it as bad as he did…

Pete got up from the couch and strolled over to her, he stood half behind her, watching the egg as well.

Faye looked up and slowly turned away from the pan and towards Pete. Her eyes were watery, but she wasn't crying yet. "I'm sorry" she mumbled with a broken voice, "I ruined it last night, it wasn't supposed to be like that.."

"Then what was it supposed to be like?" he frowned, still not understandig what was going on inside that girl's head. "What went wrong?"

Faye reached out her hand and touched Pete's arm, slowly caressing it, then she wrapped both her arms around his waist and hugged him, her head against his chest. "I got carried away, and then I realised that I was hoping we were more than…" She looked up at him, at his clueless face. She couldn't blame him for thinking she was speaking in riddles.

"There is something you need to know about me"

Pete frowned, "Please don't tell me you're really a guy" He said, trying to lighten things up. He was scared of what to find out about her, right now she still seemed like that angelic girl with nothing but a glorious past, present and future. What if that were to change?

Faye looked up, semi-angrily "no! of course not.. I look like a guy?" She gently slapped him against his chest, giggling a little bit "Damn you, I'm trying to be serious here"

"Right.. of course" Pete nodded, still slightly grinning though.

"I'm not as sweet and innocent as you might think I am.." Faye confessed, avoiding eye-contact with Pete. "There was a time..when I was sixteen I kinda lost it, I was sick of being a good hearted sweet little angle, my parents weren't really around to look after me during that time so I did a complete 180 .. I went out, hung out with the wrong people, got drunk at least three times a week…" She took a short break before continuing her story. "I mean.. I lost my virginity in the back of a car, had two really wrong boyfriends, and I thought if I'd just sleep with them, wherever whenever that they'd stay with me. But they didn't.. they found someone freakier and I was dumped just like that. I told myself not to ever do that again, have a little more respect for myself.. and last night.." She looked worried, not sure how to say what she wanted to say.

".. it wasn't the most perfect situation, I guess" Petemumbled, looking pensive. "I get that… still.. you coulda told me and I'd happily move us to my bed" He grinned cheekily as he saw her expressions change from sad to humiliated to relieved. "I bet you would.." She shrugged a little "I'm sorry, okay? I don't want this to come between us or anything, I like you too much to end what we have, solely because of this."

Pete observed her. He wasn't sure whether sleeping with her asap was more important than perhaps building a bond with her. It would be new for sure, and scary as hell.. but worth a try?

Pete finally wrapped his arms around Faye's back, instead of leaving her hangin there, or more clinging to him as it were. "Will you do me a favour next time?" he spoke up "Don't leave me hangin' like that, it's bloody awful" he smirked, pushing his discontent feeling aside. "Just don't start somethin' like that if ye don't plan on finishing it, cause honsetly..I've been a nice guy all this time, I don't deserve to be played with like that" He lifted her chin up with his index finger and placed a kiss on her lips. He liked the way he had turned it to his advantage, making it seem as if she was the player, even though he was more qualified for that title if she knew his intentions....

Faye nodded, agreeing with him. He had been a nice guy, more than that. He had been quite the gentleman, and he was one of the few guys that had treated her right..

"Come to my place tonight, are you free tonight? I'll make it up to you, okay?"

Pete looked thoughtfully "I think I'm free yeah", the game was on sunday, and so was the fight. The boys would just have to do without him for an evening then.. "I could come tonight" he smirked.

"Great, scouts honour, I'll make it up to you...I'll make you dinner and pamper you and.." She placed a kiss on his lips and turned her attention back to the eggs, which were finished by now.

"Do I eh.. need to bring my sleep-over pj's?" He grinned cheekily.

"...you're not gonna need clothes, trust me.." Faye answered with a chuckle.

"Cough up the money man", Bovver grinned at Pete, they were playing a game of pool over a few beers, and Pete was losing.

"Ah man, this is ridiculous, I lost me gamemoves!" he handed ten quid to Bovver and downed his drink. "I've got to go, mate. Faye's waitin' for me.."

Bov raised an eyebrow "What? Are you fucking married now or what?" he said with his general disapproving tone.

"You know I'm not" Pete answered calmly "just spendin' the night there is all" he shrugged and put his WHU coat on.

"Right.. see ya tomorrow then" Bovver mumbled and went to the bar to get himself another beer from Terry.

"Oh good, you're here!" Faye opened the door for Pete and let him in. "Food's in the kitchen. I know I was going to cook for you, but I kind of never opened a cookbook in my life so I ordered some Thai food"

"Anything sounds good right now, I'm fucking starving' Pete replied and headed to the kitchen. He grabbed a plate and filled it up, Faye walked over standing half behind him, half next to him. "Shouldn't you take your coat off before you start eating?" she grinned and did it for him. She could feel his body tense up when she touched him to take the coat off..

"What dyou want?" Pete had filled his played up already

"Oh just, some of that and that.." she watched him as he served her a plate of the food she wanted. Since Pete had already started eating while standing Faye started too. "You're not much of an etiquette boy are you?" she chuckled.

"Nah, etiquette is overrated" He winked at her "This is really good stuff"

"I know, glad you like it. So, the boys could do without you for the night?" She asked him, putting her plate down on the table. "I wouldn't say that, but they have no choice. I have other plans tonight.." He grinned.

Faye observed him, "Me too.." She watched how Pete put his plate down as well, he still had a grin on his face "got the whole evening planned or what?" He asked her, leaning toward her and placing a kiss on her lips.

"Nope, I thought I'd just go with the flow.." She leaned in and kissed him this time.

"Well…" Pete smirked a little, placing small kisses on her lips "If this is the flow, then I like it".

Faye wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a deep passionate kiss. Once again she felt his body tense up and before she knew it he broke the kiss. "I should warn you, this righ' here, and you.. it's driving me crazy". "I can feel that" she answered in a soft voice "Just relax.." She pulled him near again and started kissing his neck. "easier said then done, dear, if this is one of your little tricks then I'd better not relax cause I don't feel like finishing the job myself.." He closed his eyes and groaned a little as she kissed his neck. Every single kiss unleashed some feeling inside of his body, as if any minute now he'd be out of control and jump on top of her. "It isn't" She whispered and slid her hand over his chest downwards. "We should go upstairs".

Not more than a minute later did Pete push Faye into her bedroom. By now the air between them had gotten pretty heated. He lifted her up as she wrapped her legs around his waste. She kissed him passionatly while her hands searched the beginning of his shirt. They broke the kiss for a second, but only to take Pete's shirt off. He in return unbuttoned her blouse and let it fell to the floor.

It was a matter of minutes before the passion had spread in the air. They moved to the bed and continued their little adventure there. After all, for Pete this was just an adventure.. or so he thought..

Time flew by as they got to know every little piece of each other's bodies. Their scent filled the room, and about half an hour later their bodies, covered with sweat, slowly disconnected, as they each took a short while to catch their breath. Faye eventually cuddled close against Pete, enjoying the way their limbs intwined. Eventually it was Pete who broke the silence with a 'Fuck me' comment. Faye smirked, staring at him "now that's a little too late, don't you think..?" she giggled

"Right.. well..man.. i'm worn out" he mumbled, embracing her a bit tighter "I think you should come with some kinda warning, you look all sweet and innocent" he grinned at her. "I AM sweet... maybe not that innocent, but I never said I was anyway" she shrugged and let her fingertips roam his upperbody "How often do you work out?" she asked, noticing that his abs were extremely well-formed, more than what she had seen on guys so far. "Not all that often, couple of times a week.. me eh.. and the boys we.." He was about to tell her that they had to stay fit because of all the fights they got into, then he remembered that it was one part of himself he wasn't going to talk about. "We like that sorta thing, for fun, keeps us off the streets... out of the pub" he chuckled.

Faye laughed "Right.. sure.. it works perfectly" she joked, knowing he was pretty much always in the pub. She leaned closer to him and placed a kiss on his lips "I'm tired" she admitted as well. "Good, then I don't have to be the party-pooper who goes to sleep first..". Again Faye grinned. There was something about this guy, he seemed honest and genuine when he was around her. That facade of being a tough football guy seemed to float away when they were alone, she liked the genuine Pete, he was adorable, and delicious..

The following day, both Faye and Pete did not wake up until about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Faye was the first one to stirr, which woke Pete up. He looked down at her with a small grin on his face "Goodmorning gorgeous" he said with a hoarse voice.

"Morning" she smiled. Waking up like this was something she would want to get used to. His arms felt nice and secure, and his face was so handsome, it made her mood even better just looking at him. Before they had a chance to even greet each other properly with a kiss, Pete's phone started buzzing and peeping. "What the.." he mumbled, not fully awake yet. He threw the covers off and reach over to his pants to get his phone out. He stared at the display and cursed colourfully. –STEVE'S BIRTHDAY LUNCH- it said on the small screen.

"What is it ? Your friends again? Missing you already?" she joked

"Nah, I eh.. I forgot, it's my brother's birthday today and I promised to have lunch with 'im and his family and all.." he scratched his head and yawned "Great, I'm late" he muttered and got out of bed.

"Oh..oh.." Faye was unable to reply in another way for a few seconds "I eh.. you want me to come with you?" she asked. The second that sentence rolled out of her mouth she regretted saying it. What was she thinking? They hadn't even gone out properly and she suggested meeting the family already. "..sorry I just.. that would be weird" she smirked. She just didn't want him to leave, they had had a really nice night and it would end so abruptly if he left just like that, without even eating breakfast at her place or anything.

Pete turned around, standing there in her bedroom, buttnaked, thinking about that option. They weren't together..right ? She wasn't his girlfriend or anything... it would probably be weird if he brought her... but it would also silence his brother once and for all about the 'have your own family' kinda nonsense talk..

"Fuck it" he answered "I will take you with me, they might just like you" he winked at her. Faye smiled broadly, glad that he didn't turn her offer down. [i]See? He's my boyfriend, we're an item now. He practically spelled it out[/i] she thought to herself.

Thirty minutes later they left Faye's house, all showered and cleaned up, ready to attend Steve's birthday party...

"Ai ai! Congratulations Brov!" Pete walked through the door, hugging his brother and slapping him on the back.

"thanks mate, good to see you" immediately Steve's eye went over to Faye. "Who do we have here then?" he asked, letting go of Pete and staring at Faye, surprised. In the doorway stood a beautiful young woman, dark hair, bright eyes, dressed in jeans and a bright blue baby-doll, she looked smart, casual and .. like someone that wouldn't hang out with his brother.

"This is eh.. Faye, my girlfriend" he introduced her. It sounded lame, his girlfriend, but a part of him actually kinda liked that label on her. She was dropdead gorgeous, sweet, funny and well... his girlfriend.

"Wow, li'l brother..you found someone that's willing to deal with your horrible West-Ham-obsession ey?" he laughed, glad that his little brother seemed to move towards the right path in life..

"Sh man" Pete whispered, pushing him away from Faye and into the livingroom, as Shannon walked over to greet Faye. "..she doesn't know, I didn't tell her all about me...."


End file.
